Decisions of Shadows and Reflections
by Aster Uchiha
Summary: Dream-state, one shot all from Sasuke's POV. In a world of agonizingly blinding light, he searches for shadows, for safety. But comfort is his demise. RandR please.


I know I'm supposed to be starting my other fic, but I got stuck... I wanted to type something, but with less characters involved and more dramatic. I was talking this oneshot over with Lily Yamamoto for quite some time, but never actually typed it. It's taken forever, but I finally did it.

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This whole fic is from Sasuke's POV and in a dreamlike state. It's not AU, and all the events from the anime are relevant. It was inspired by 'Figure.09' by Linkin Park(song), 'Last One Standing' by GhostFaceSkylla (Fic), and 'Alone I Break' by Yukina-Chun(art). Characters (C) Mamashi Kishimoto -no duh.

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Decisions of Shadows and Reflections

By AsterUchiha

The light was blinding white, and invaded my vision before I could react. A sharp stinging sensation swept through my forehead as I tried to block out the horrifically direct sunlight with my hands. It was a few minutes before I could pull my hands away, although I still had to keep one hand up as a shield from the radiance's persecution. I was especially thankful of my dark blue-black hair at times like this.

My vision, much to my annoyance, made its way back slowly, taking its time. I still could barely perceive my fingers in front of my face, which were partially obscured by obscenely bright light. Gradually, I began to make out colors. The overpoweringly jovial green grass below rubbed against a sore spot in my heart. Joy was something denied to me.

Bit by bit, things came into clarity around me, but the distance was still heavily blurred. It was then that I caught the shimmer of Sakura's blissful pink hair in the distance, soon after, Naruto's childish laughter wafting through the air. For a painful second, I wanted to run to them, but I knew better than to give into such an urge. Even though I realized the thought was taboo, I wondered if Kakashi was there too.

The curious proddings of my own mind made me cringe. The world around me spun as I slashed the deep-rooted longing within me. I swayed dangerously, and reality hit me. I wasn't like them, I wasn't a part of their group. And I never would be, no matter how much I desired it. I had to leave.

I didn't know what to call the mysterious emotion swirling within me as I turned my back on them. I wanted so desperately to turn back, to smile and laugh. But those things would all be lies, and we all knew it. I didn't want to go. I didn't have a choice.

Dizzy and unsure, I stumbled awkwardly through the agonizing shafts of light. The more time that passed, the more I desired darkness, safety. I was vulnerable here, vulnerable to pain. But no matter how hard I searched, how long I shuffled in the dry, crackling emerald grass, shade was nowhere to be found. The sun didn't burn, it stung, like cold rain. I wanted the warmth darkness and shadows provided.

After what felt like hours, but may have been minutes or days for all I knew, my shaky legs came to a halt. My body was giving out, the merry signs of Team Seven were gone from me. My stomach flipped terrifically as the world danced around me. Any second now, I was going to collapse, I was going to meet the itching grass with my chest and face. It was then that a soft sound broke through me. Something, something I didn't know yet, sliding over the grass.

My abused eyes roved the ground, resting a faded-violet snake at my feet. It coiled itself, staring me down. I met its gaze sternly, swallowing a twinge of fear that I couldn't explain. I could almost hear it speaking in my mind, and I didn't know the words, but I could feel what it desired from me without them. I could feel its promise. The promise of power, of darkness, of shadows, of safety. It turned from abruptly me, and I followed without hesitation.

The light was still too much for me, but it steadily became more and more bearable. At first I believed I was gaining a tolerance to it, but then I noticed that the landscape had dimmed. The snake was leading me away from the light, away from everything I knew. The child in me yearned to turn back. I strangled the yearning.

Gradually, my eyes became accustomed to the shadows, and the nagging tingle in my head disappeared. Everything was shrouded in darkness, light was absent here- it was food to the starving. Normally, the gloom would have been just as debilitating as the overwhelming light, but something in me had changed. I had found my place of belonging. My body relaxed, and I noticed how tense I had been. Confidence found itself anew in my strides.

The snake I had been trailing behind stopped. It could lead me no farther. I watched in tranquility as it barred its fangs. This creature believed it had captured me, that it would spell my end. I smirked as I realized how wrong it was. With one swift motion, I crushed it beneath my sandal. Blood sprayed out in a restrained way from under my shoe, and I had a new appreciation for the thickness of my soles. It was a moment before I stepped back, surveying my handiwork. I was no one's prey.

The curl left my lips and I took another careful look around myself. A door stood out of the shadows, a door that only I could see. Moving with the solidity of decision, I grasped the handle of the plain, black entrance. My consciousness knew naught of what was coming, but something deeper inside did, and I faltered for a second before slipping within.

It would be wrong to call the place I found dark, it was devoid of light. Light that happened upon this quiet was trapped and consumed into nothingness. If it must be referred to as 'darkness,' it was no longer an inanimate idea, but a living creature, swirling around me. My heartbeat quickened with fear, and then fell into a deathly slow rhythm.

I had been staring ahead, but I hadn't truly seen what was in front of me until now. The light that had been captured and gathered was in front of me. It glowed softly in the distance, giving the feel of an open door. Breathing deeply, I staggered toward it. As I came closer, I perceived it to be a mirror. I expected the light it gave off to cast shadows, but an invisible force held the luminescence in a tight cage. The nature of the glow befuddled me and I stumbled on without trepidation. My feet slowed to a shuffle, and I came to a stop in front of the icy-looking glass.

I glared at it. This object was out of place in a world so fully hateful of radiance. Why was it here? Who had put it here? These questions assailed my easily provoked mind. I turned away, preparing to descend back into the shadows from whence I had emerged. Then it hit me. I was at a mirror. Where was my reflection?

I whipped back around, only to see the equivalent of all my nightmares, terrors, and more-staring back. My breath caught in my chest as my body went rigid. Screams echoed in my head, and blood sprayed itself before my eyes. My reason for living came into sharp focus.

"Itachi?!" The quiet, accusing gasp left my lips suddenly.

The name seemed as though it should echo, but it only drifted into the ever devouring darkness. I stared, dumbfounded. Was he dead? He didn't move, he didn't answer, my elder brother did not even blink. But this was a mirror. Why did I see him instead of my own reflection? My stomach flipped.

Uchiha Itachi had betrayed all those who had put their trust in him, and he had left one standing. This man had tortured my dreams and destroyed my hopes, single-handedly knocked me down and built me again. We were nothing alike. Why was his reflection staring down on me? The question was bitter and unsettling in too many ways to count.

'Teme!'

Naruto. For one enthralling second I had imagined his voice, but it quickly faded and lost its believability.

Understanding flooded me, leaving hollow destruction in its path. I had betrayed those who had trusted me. I had left one standing. I had destroyed hopes and tortured dreams, single-handedly knocking down and building the one whom I had left behind. Naruto was to me, as I was to Itachi. The world spun.

I had let him make me into something I wasn't. It was like a sick test, and I had failed long ago. All of the things I had done to destroy him were molding me into his likeness.

But now the situation was in my favor. I scowled at his reflection, raising my fist. This was over. It was time to let go.

I struck at the mirror full-force, expectant of the shattering sound and explosion of jagged glass that would ensue. To my horror, it never came.

Tendrils of glowing light reached out from the mirror, and it rippled like water, instead of the ice believed it to be. I had expected cold, but there was blinding heat. As I looked up, my eyes widened in terror. Itachi was gone from the mirror, and the super-heated tentacles were halfway up my arm. I screamed out, wrenching my body away wildly. The lying mirror pulled back and I tried to catch myself with one hand on the edge of it. I wrapped my fingers around it, oblivious to temperature, noting only the false solidity that I trusted in my panic. Suddenly my grip gave and I was plunged headfirst into hell's icefire.

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That was long ago. How long ago, I can't be sure. It seems that I've be standing in this mirror for eternity. Time is non-existent inside it, and I've become completely numb, save the ache in my immovable body. I've had plenty of time to think, plenty of time to regret, but time never runs out here because it never begins.

And now I wonder, how did my once beloved brother end up here? What choices led him to this mirror? Did he know I would follow and bring him 'salvation'? I wonder if he knew what fate he would meet as he entered this hell. I wonder, if he was only searching to achieve a goal, and got lost along the way- the same way I have.

But these are questions I have an eternity to ponder, and no time to answer. There is no 'salvation' coming for me.

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How did this one go over? The whole idea behind this was well thought out, but the fic itself was rather spontaneaus. Please review! C: 


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